[ola] Re: Trust Falls - Help!
- From: Martin Kathryn <kmartin@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: "ola@xxxxxxxxxxxxx" <ola@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Thu, 15 Jan 2015 18:10:44 +0000
I have to chime in—this year has been much more challenging than last year with
the use of English in class and lack of participation. Anything you all have
to suggest would be greatly appreciated!
From: ola-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:ola-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of
Shahla Brown
Sent: Thursday, January 15, 2015 9:56 AM
To: ola@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [ola] Re: Trust Falls - Help!
It is so great to know that others continually deal with students who are
unengaged or constantly distracted.
On Thu, Jan 15, 2015 at 11:45 AM, Jody Soberon
<jodyso@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx<mailto:jodyso@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>> wrote:
Hi,
I am so looking forward to responses on this. I haven't even dared to do this
yet, though I probably could have success with my Span 2 classes that are
pretty much on board with immersion. But my Span 1 classes have so many issues
similar to what Warren describes about English, being off task, playing on
their phones, uninvolved, non-participatory, chatting in English in circle, not
following instructions etc.
Thank you!
On Thu, Jan 15, 2015 at 8:11 AM, Warren Billings
<wbillings@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx<mailto:wbillings@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>>
wrote:
Good morning!
I just did trust falls with my first period class and honestly it failed and I
am discouraged by this.
QUESTION: Does anyone have tips on how to make trust falls successful? I think
I just brought the class backwards in their trust for each other. Again, I am
discouraged and frankly upset by this. Give me some basic advice on how to make
it work!
There is a split of half the class that works super hard and does well and the
other half of the class talks in English, doesn't have notebooks, plays on
phones, wants to eat their breakfast, is late, absent often, etc. I've been
talking to them and to their parents but the issues are continuing to come up.
I maintain those high expectations in class but they are still exhibiting this
behavior even though I have created a safe environment where it is easier to
simply participate than to be off task.
They just had a writing performance assessment and those that aren't working
just had a reality check - lots of 1.0's (equivalent to D or F). They are
performing at NM with incomplete sentences. It was a true assessment though
because all the ones that I expected to pass did pass.
I am planning on doing a critique session of exemplar work later but wanted to
first establish that community of people that trust each other when they need
help.
Today I did trust falls to fortify the feeling of community before we start
critiquing tomorrow. Here is the process that I went through:
1. Hook: sing the song we just learned
2. Modeling: I modeled a trust fall (with one of the struggling students)
saying in L2 Ready? Yes! Trust!
3. Pairing Activity: Sneakers inside the circle, boots outside
4. I wrote the key words on the board: ready? yes! trust!
5. Modeling: I asked one pair to perform the trust fall and had everyone watch.
6. I then counted down from three and asked everyone to fall onto their
partners.
7. They said thank you and gave their partner a high five and switched to do it
again.
8. I asked if trust was important in class and said that trust was like saying
help
9. I wrote trust = help on the whiteboard and we drew pictures of people
needing trust and people needing help.
10. We then drew pictures of people helping the drawings on the whiteboard.
11. We then shared some sentences as a group
12. We then wrote five sentences about help and trust.
The trust falls were a fail because one boy let another boy fall and I didn't
do anything because I thought it was an accident. I will talk to them tomorrow.
Lots of people doing the shuffle step when they fell back. They were too
clumped up with room to hide and misbehave. I should have stopped, made space,
then had those two boys do it again in front of everyone.
Tomorrow I am doing it again. We need to have success here. Today was not
successful. I know that this is only one step in our journey of establishing a
positive community. Everything we do in class either builds or takes away from
that community.
QUESTION: Does anyone have tips on how to make trust falls successful? I think
I just brought the class backwards in their trust for each other. Again, I am
discouraged and frankly upset by this. Give me some basic advice on how to make
it work!
Un abrazo,
Warren
--
Warren Billings
Spanish Teacher
Pittsfield Middle High School
Pittsfield, NH
Telephone: (603) 435-6701 x4226<tel:%28603%29%20435-6701%20x4226>
Visit our Website! http://pittsfieldspanish.weebly.com/
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